03 February 2011

As I have written previously, U.S. Army PFC Bradley Manning has been held since last May in a 6-foot by 12-foot prison cell at the Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia, under conditions that seem like harsh and cruel punishment, even though he has yet to be convicted of any crime. Manning is accused of being the source of the classified U.S. government documents that Wikileaks has been sharing with the world, but he still awaits his day in military court.

The case has captured the attention of Amnesty International, which recently wrote to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, calling for Manning's detention conditions to be reviewed. Amnesty does not do such things frivolously.